Wire positioner for terminal attaching machine

ABSTRACT

A wire positioner for controlling both the transverse and vertical movement of the free end of a stripped wire preparatory to being crimped to the ferrule portion of an electrical connector includes a retractable vertical guide which cooperates with a stationary guide to limit transverse movement of the wire, and a horizontally disposed member which is downwardly movable to force the conductor downwardly between said vertical guides to a position in close proximity to the electrical connector.

United States Patent [191 Wolyn 1 Jan. 2, 1973 [541 WIRE POSITIONER FOR TERMINAL ATTACHING MACHINE [75] Inventor: Joseph Wolyn,Gurnee,lll.

[73] Assignee: Thomas & Betts Corporation,

Elizabeth, NJ. y

[22] Filed: Feb. 12, 1971 [211 App]. No.: 114,858

[52] US. Cl. ..29/203 D [51] Int. Cl. ..H0lr 43/04, H05k 13/00 203 DT, 29/203 D, 203 R [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,245.1 35 4/1966 Netta et al. ..29/630 A l2/l970 Netta et a] ..29/203 S Primary Examiner--Thomas H. Eager Attorney-Thomas M. Marshall [5 7 ABSTRACT A wire positioner for controlling both the transverse 5 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures 7 PATENTED A 2 I97 SHEEI 1 OF 2 PATENTEDJANZ ms 3,707,756

SHEET 2 [IF 2 INVENTOR. Jase? Wamv WIRE POSITIONER FOR TERMINAL ATTACHING MACHINE The present invention relates to improvements in terminal attaching machines, and more particularly, to an improved wire positioner adapted to be operated in combination with a terminal attaching machine which receives the stripped end of a electrical conductor to which a terminal having wire-engaging ferrule portion is to be attached, and positionsit correctly into the attaching position in the terminal attaching machine.

In standard terminal attaching machines, such as that illustrated in United States Letters Patent No. 3,245,135, which issued to Netta, et al. on Apr. 12, 1966, and assigned to the assignee of the present application, a strip of terminals is fed by an indexing pawl along a flat surface until the terminal still attached to the strip is crimped onto a lead of a wire by a ram having attached to it a terminal crimping tool and a cut-off blade. As the ram descends the terminal crimping tool causes a terminal to be crimped onto the wire and insulation, while at the same time cutting off the terminal crimp on the wire lead from the strip of terminals. Operating in synchronization with the terminal attaching machine is a wire handling device adapted to feed a wire through the terminal attaching station for each reciprocating cycle of the ram of the terminal attaching machine. Each individual wire is crimped at one end, with the crimped end to be attached to the terminal being cantilevered from a wire holding mechanism from a portion of the wire handling device. As is readily apparent, any bending of a wire or electrical conductor will cause misalignment between the stripped end of the wire and the ferrules of the terminals, thereby resulting in a poor electrical connection, or possibly no connection at all. In order to alleviate this problem, it has been conventional to employ a wire straightening mechanism in combination with the wire handling device so as to minimize the problem of bending of the wire conductor as it is being conveyed to the terminal attaching station. The use of wire straighteners further complicates the operation of the terminal attaching apparatus, and does not insure that each crimping operation will result in both a good electrical and mechanical connection.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a wire handling apparatus in the form of a wire positioner adapted to insure a proper electrical and mechanical connection of a stripped wire to a terminal.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a means for positively guiding both in the transverse and vertical directions the free end of a stripped insulated wire preparatory to attachment to a terminal.

It is a further object to provide a wire positioner for a terminal attaching machine which is adapted to be mounted on the crimping head of the terminal attaching machine so as to operate in conjunction therewith, thereby minimizing the possibility of misalignment between the stripped wire and the terminal.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a wire positioner means which is retractable so as to not interfere with the removal of a wire which has been attached to a terminal.

With these and other objects and advantages in mind, the device of this invention will be better understood by considering the description of elements set forth below along with the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a partial side view of a terminal attaching machine and the wire positioner of the subject invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a frontal view of the wire positioner of the subject invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates a view along 3-3 in FIG. 2; and

FIGS. 4a, 4b, 4c and 4d illustrate partial frontal views of the various operational positions of the wire positioner of the subject invention.

Turning to FIG. 1, the wire positioner of the subject invention is intended for use on a terminal attaching machine including a reciprocating attaching head which cooperates with a stationery anvil 11 for connecting a wire 14 to a terminal 16. The wire 14 is held at one end by jaws 13 mounted on a conveyor 12, with the opposite end of the wire 14 being stripped of insulation to expose the conductor 15. The terminal 16 includes two pairs of flanges, flanges 16a which are crimped about the exposed wire 15, to form the electrical connection, while flanges 16b grip the wire 14 about an insulated portion so as to provide strain relief. In order to positively control the free end of the wire 14, the wire positioner of the subject invention, designated by numeral 17, is adapted to engage the free end of the wire 14.

Referring now to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the wire positioner 17 includes a frame F which is fixedly attached to the attaching head 10. Positive control of the free end of the conductor 14 is achieved by three arm members A, B, C, with the latter arm member C controlling the vertical position of the wire 14, while members A and B cooperate to define a vertical slot for limiting the transverse or lateral movement of the conductor 14. As previously mentioned, even though the wire 14 may have been subjected to a straightening operation subsequent to the stripping of the insulation from the free end thereof, the wire may still have a tendency to return to its original bent configuration. Accordingly, the wire positioner of the subject invention provides means for positively guiding the stripped wire into the flanges 16a, 16b of the terminal preparatory to the crimping operation.

Arm member C is connected by bolt 21 to an elongated lever C which, in turn, is pivotally connected as at to the frame F. In order to enable adjustment between the relative positions of arm members C and lever .C', arm member C is provided with an elongated opening 22 through which the bolt 21 extends. The lower surface of the arm member C includes an inwardly turned flange so as to provide a larger bearing surface for engaging the wire 14.

Rotatably mounted as at 24 at the end of lever C' is a cam follower roller 23, while piviotally mounted intermediate of the ends of lever C as at 32 is a linkage 31 extending from solenoid 30. Also connected intermediate the ends of lever C is a spring 33 connected at 34 to the lever C, and as at 35 to the attaching head 10.

Arm member B is connected by bolt through an adjustable slot 51 to member B which is pivotally connected as at 52 to the frame F. Extending from the member B is an arm 53 to which a spring 54 is connected, the opposite end of said spring 54 being connected as at 55 to an arm 56 rigidly connected as at 57 to the frame F. Member B includes a cam surface defined by cam surface 25, transition cam surface 25a,

and cam surface 25b, said cam surfaces 25, 25a, 25b being operatively associated with the cam follower roller 23 of lever C. As is readily apparent, the biasing force of spring 54 is counter-acted by the cooperation of cam follower roller 23 and the cam surfaces 25, 25a, 25b.

The remaining arm member A is fixedly mounted to the frame F by bolt 40, with the arm member A being provided with a slot 41 to enable adjustment of the arm member A relative to the frame F. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the depending portion of L-shaped arm member A includes a slot 42 to enable the passage therethrough of the depending finger portion of arm member B.

The wire positioner 17 is illustrated in its initial position in FIG. 2, with the member B being fully retracted, and the solenoid 30 inactivated, whereby the spring 33 retracts the lever C to its full up position. At such time the cam follower roller 23 bears against the first cam surface 25 of member B. FIGS. 4a through 4d illustrate the successive operational positions of the wire positioner during the positioning of a wire into a terminal for crimping.

Turning to FIG. 4a, as a solenoid 30 is activated, lever C is caused to pivot about pivot 20 whereby the cam follower roller 23 engages the transition cam surface 250 so as to cause clock-wise rotation of member B and arm member B. As illustrated in FIG. 4b, further rotation of the member B and arm member B causes the finger extension of member B to pass through the slot 42 in arm member A, while FIG. 40 illustrates the position wherein the cam follower roller 23 bears against the cam surface 25b, and the finger extensions of members A and B define a vertical slot for limiting the transverse movement of wire 14. At such time the arm member C is moving downwardly so as to force the wire 14 downwardly through the slot created by arm members A and B, and into the vicinity of the upstanding flanges 16b of the terminal 16. FIG. 4d illustrates the final operational position of the wire positioner wherein the attaching head moves downwardly, and accordingly the frame F moves downwardly, thereby causing crimping of the flanges 16a and 16b about the conductor 14. At this instant, the arm member C, along with the arm members A and B restrict movement of the wire 14 thereby insuring positive engagement of the terminal to the wire.

Upon the completion of the crimping operation, the attaching head 10 is retracted upwardly, the solenoid 30 is deactivated, and the springs 33 and 54 cause respective rotation of levers C and member B to their initial positions illustrated in FIG. 2.

Thus, it will be seen that the wire positioner of the present invention provides for the correct positioning of wires with respect to the terminals in order that the terminal may be correctly crimped on the lead end 15 of the wire 14.

Although the wire positioner of the subject invention has been illustrated in combination with a terminal attaching machine of the crimping type, it is readily apparent that the subject wire positioner may also be employed in welding or soldering apparatus wherein it is desirable to positively control the free end of a lead preparatory to soldering or welding.

Furthermore, although members B and C have been illustrated as being conne ted b adjustabl connectrons to member and ever respect ul it IS readily apparent that said arm members may be an integral part their supporting elements. The primary purpose for providing the adjustable connections between the arm members and their supporting elements is to enable adjustment of the width of the vertical slot and the position of the arm member C to accomodate different size leads.

While the device illustrated and described represents a preferred embodiment, it will be appreciated that mechanical equivalence can be employed without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A wire positioner for guiding a stripped wire for attach-ment of a terminal on the end thereof by a terminal attachingdevice comprising:

a frame fixedly mounted on said terminal attaching device;

a first member fixedly mounted to said frame and defining one wall of a vertical guide slot for the wire;

a second member pivotally mounted on said frame and movable into a position to define the other wall of said vertical guide slot for the wire;

a third member pivotally mounted on said frame and operatively associated with said second member, said third member extending across the transverse dimension of said vertical guide slot and movable in a vertical direction to vary the vertical height of said guide slot and thereby control the vertical position of said wire,

a solenoid mounted on said frame, and linkage means connecting said solenoid to said third member.

2. A wire positioner as set forth in claim 1 wherein said third member includes a cam follower roller rotatably mounted thereon, and said second member includes a cam surface against which said cam follower roller rides.

3. A wire positioner as set forth in claim 1 wherein said second member comprises a finger portion for defining one wall of the vertical slot, and a member pivotally mounted on said frame, with said finger portion and said member being attached by an adjustable connection.

4. A wire positioner as set forth in claim I further including a spring extending between the terminal attaching device and said third member for biasing the latter into a retracted position upon deactivation of said actuating means.

5. A wire positioner as set forth in claim 2 further including a spring extending between said frame and the second member to bias the cam surface of the second member against the cam follower roller.

is a a: a: e 

1. A wire positioner for guiding a stripped wire for attacH-ment of a terminal on the end thereof by a terminal attaching device comprising: a frame fixedly mounted on said terminal attaching device; a first member fixedly mounted to said frame and defining one wall of a vertical guide slot for the wire; a second member pivotally mounted on said frame and movable into a position to define the other wall of said vertical guide slot for the wire; a third member pivotally mounted on said frame and operatively associated with said second member, said third member extending across the transverse dimension of said vertical guide slot and movable in a vertical direction to vary the vertical height of said guide slot and thereby control the vertical position of said wire, a solenoid mounted on said frame, and linkage means connecting said solenoid to said third member.
 2. A wire positioner as set forth in claim 1 wherein said third member includes a cam follower roller rotatably mounted thereon, and said second member includes a cam surface against which said cam follower roller rides.
 3. A wire positioner as set forth in claim 1 wherein said second member comprises a finger portion for defining one wall of the vertical slot, and a member pivotally mounted on said frame, with said finger portion and said member being attached by an adjustable connection.
 4. A wire positioner as set forth in claim 1 further including a spring extending between the terminal attaching device and said third member for biasing the latter into a retracted position upon deactivation of said actuating means.
 5. A wire positioner as set forth in claim 2 further including a spring extending between said frame and the second member to bias the cam surface of the second member against the cam follower roller. 